Moving like a hot knife through town business

CORNWALL — A combined town meeting and public hearing on Zoom about the 2021-22 proposed town budgets attracted nearly 40 residents on Friday, April 23.

First Selectman Gordon Ridgway observed that Friday’s event was the first Cornwall town meeting ever held on Zoom, and he commented that the past year has been challenging. 

Lisa Lansing Simont was elected unanimously to serve as moderator for the town meeting. All five items up for consideration received unanimous votes in favor.

Ridgway reviewed highlights of the 2020 annual report for the year that ended June 30, 2020. Acceptance of that report was late, because of  delays caused by the pandemic, but the report earned praise from Ridgway for its thoroughness and aesthetic appeal, thanks to the editorial work of Barbara Herbst and the photographs supplied largely by Laszlo Gyorsok.

The five-year capital plan was detailed by Board of Finance Chairman Joseph Pryor, who indicated that $40,000 has been set aside annually to fund the replacement of an aging town plow truck. Town building maintenance and roof replacement are anticipated in the coming months.

Ridgway commented that the future will bring improvements to Town Hall, which is “our next big building project after we do the transfer station.”

A real estate revaluation is scheduled for this summer by the assessor. Ridgway said he expects this will bring an increase in the total value of the Grand List of taxable property. 

Parking area approved for Betts

Voters approved of the sale to William Betts of the small parcel of land that used to be the location of the West Cornwall Fire House, adjacent to the former Farnsworth Bookstore. Before it was a bookstore, the building housed a Masonic Hall. The tiny piece of land, measuring two-tenths of an acre, will be sold to Betts for $500, and will give him space to accommodate parking for one or two vehicles next to the Farnsworth building, which he recently purchased.

“We would like to see that property come back to life,” Ridgway said, crediting Betts with dubbing the location “the east side of West Cornwall.”  

With roots in Cornwall, Betts said that he moved back to town in late autumn, and he is excited to be part of the revitalization of that area of the town.

A challenge at the Farnsworth property is the absence of a water source and septic provisions; and until the town meeting vote, there was no parking. Betts observed that the small parking area will also give him space to bring in a dumpster, so he can begin the process of cleaning out the building.

Because the balance in the town’s Sidney Kaye Fund has been spent down to $18,900, residents voted to amend a 1981 ordinance to allow that fund to be merged with the town’s endowment fund, adding Kaye Fund to the list of funds in the endowment. Over the years, many worthwhile projects have benefited from the Kaye Fund.

And then the budget hearing

The Board of Finance public hearing on the proposed town budgets for 2021-22 began with a review of both budget proposals, but drew only questions of clarification from residents, rather than calls for change.

Pryor said that the town is in a positive situation financially, thanks in part to the growth in the Grand List during the past year.

The budgets as proposed will result in holding the mill rate steady for the coming year at 16.70, Pryor said. He reminded everyone that the mill rate will not be set until after the town meeting vote approves the proposed budgets.

That town meeting will be held on Friday, May 21.

The selectmen’s proposed budget for the town totals $2,919,986, up 5.47%, or $151,457. 

The town’s school budget totals $4,017,965, including $1,484,561 for the Region One assessment. That total represents an increase of 4.27%, or $298,849.

Copies of the proposed 2021-22 budgets can be viewed in detail, along with supporting documents, on the town website at www.cornwallct.org.